CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT IN A FACEBOOK BRAND COMMUNITY Author – Johanna Gummerus and Veronica Liljander, Emil Weman, Minna Pihlström Resource – 2012, Emerald Teacher – Dr. Soe-Tsyr (Daphne) Yuan Presenter – Chih-Teng (Eric) Huang

Agenda  Abstract & Introduction  Theoretical development  Method  Results  Summary and conclusions  Q&A

Abstract & Introduction  Customer engagement : A concept that has emerged recently to capture customers’ total set of behavioral activities toward a firm. (Ex: read, post, share, like…)

Abstract & Introduction - Finding  Customer engagement = Community Engagement Behaviors + Transactional Engagement Behaviors  Relationship benefits  Social benefits  Entertainment benefits  Economic benefits

Theoretical development  Customer engagement consists of five dimensions.  Customer engagement can be expressed in different ways depending on the customer’s resources (e.g. time).  C.E. can result in different types of outcomes for the customer (e.g. improvements in the service).

Theoretical development  C.E. can vary in scope and be momentary, such as issuing a complaint, or ongoing behavior.  C.E. has varying impact on the firm and peers (negative/positive).  Customers may engage in the behaviors for different purposes.

Theoretical development – Brand community  Brand communities form one important platform for customers’ engagement behaviors, which firms employ to engage their customers.  A specialized, non-geographically bound community, based on a structured set of social relationships among admirers of a brand.

Theoretical development – Brand community  Consumers may engage in several types of behaviors in communities.  Many consumers engage in non-interactive behaviors such as reading others’ comments, or lurk, and Shang et al. found that lurking enhanced customer loyalty even more than commenting did.

Theoretical development – Perceived relationship benefits of customer engagement in brand communities  Brand communities in social media share three characteristics.  In the form of acoustic, visual and physical contact, which emerges between communication partners.  The goal of any communication is avoiding uncertainty and reducing ambiguity.  The concept of self-presentation.

Theoretical development – Perceived relationship benefits of customer engagement in brand communities  The present study focuses on the following benefits  Practical benefits (ex: information)  Social benefits (ex: recognition, friendship)  Social enhancement (ex: the need to feel useful)  Entertainment benefits (ex: relaxation, fun)  Economic benefits (ex: discounts, time saving)

Theoretical development – Perceived relationship benefits of customer engagement in brand communities

Theoretical development – Relationship outcomes  Customer engagement is believed to be directly and positively related to a number of brand relationship outcomes, such as satisfaction, trust, affective commitment, and loyalty.  Customer satisfaction can be seen as a measure of the quality of the relationship between the customer and the firm.

Theoretical development – Relationship outcomes

Method  Customer engagement was measured with a combination of brand community and transactional behaviors. (ex: content liking, commenting, and news reading)  Two engagement behavior factors were found, one for community behavior and one for transactional behavior.

Method

Results  The mediation analysis reveals three main types of results:  (1) the relationship between independent variables, i.e. community engagement behaviors and transactional engagement behaviors and mediators (Path A)  (2) the indirect effects of independent variables on dependent variables through mediators (Path a x b)  (3) the direct effects from the mediators and independent variables on dependent variables (Path C).

Results

Summary and conclusions

 CEB such as liking content, writing comments and reading messages influenced positively all relationship benefits, whereas TEB (gaming and spending money) had a positive impact on social benefits and entertainment benefits, but not on economic benefits.

Summary and conclusions  CEB lead to higher expectations on the firm, and therein to negative influence on satisfaction.

Summary and conclusions – Managerial implications  Brand community providers should focus on offering entertainment and social benefits to their visitors  The visitors who are attracted by lotteries and competitions are not necessarily loyal to the Facebook brand community provider in their buying behaviors, possibly not even in their CEB.

Summary and conclusions – Managerial implications  To offer entertaining elements, such as comic strips, videos, or photos, to put customers in a good mood and to encourage them to return to the site.

Summary and conclusions – Future research directions and limitations  In the future, more studies are needed on different types of brand communities to identify similar as well as other engagement behaviors, or engagement behavior dimensions.  The way customer engagement and its proximal constructs should be modeled.

Summary and conclusions – Future research directions and limitations  It is necessary to investigate further the relationship between CEB and satisfaction.  Research is needed on whether customers are shifting from the World Wide Web towards social media brand communities, and what that means in terms of who joins these communities and why.

Q&A